Wednesday, October 28, 2009

After almost a week from it's opening on 21st October 2009 that I managed to get to TV3's Sri Pentas to see the art exhibition by Pahang Artists. Since it was being organized by a fellow blogger Datin Mamasita of the famous blog Mamasita Mamamia, I felt compelled to attend the exhibition not only to lend support for her monumental effort but also to learn a thing or two about arts from the many works of the many fine artists of Pahang. I promised to attend the show on the previous day but a mini gathering of my classmates from the class of 1968 Sekolah Menenggah Sultan Ibrahim Pasir Mas at a friend's house somewhere in Ampang had consumed the better part of the afternoon leaving me with little time to visit the exhibition.It was a blessing in disguise really as visiting the exhibition on Tuesday 27th. of October 2007 had better offerings than the previous day. For starters Datin Mamasita had promised that other fellow bloggers such as Dato' Jaffar Lamri of Jaff Points and Puteri Kamaliah of Kata Kama would be attending too. I was anxious to meet Dato' Jaffar as my last meeting with him was the first meeting at Kinokuniya KLCC where Awang Goneng had his GUiT book signing which was almost two years ago. Puteri did not attend today's event for some reasons or other, after all she had attended it earlier on the first day. Dato' Jaffar came to collect his precious Ayam Serama painting which he had purchased at his first visit on the opening day.I was one of the early arrival for the afternoon and Dato Jaffar came shortly after. Here we posed for a photograph with Datin Mamasita being the organizer and one of the prominent artist from Pahang, Osman Limat.

From left to right: Pak Zawi, Osman Limat, Dato' Jaff and Datin Mamasita.

The lobby of Sri Pentas where the exhibition was held.

Dato' Jaff was taking his duly wrapped Ayam Serama to the car when I pleaded to see the painting before he took them home. Dato' Jaff he willingly obliged.

Such is the beauty of the painting of the pair of Ayam Serama which Dato' Jaff bought.

Another great piece at the exhibition was Melombong by Osman Limat or Pak Man as he is affectionately known.

Melombong carried a tag of RM15,000.00. It was later bought by The Malaysian Ambassador to the United States YB. Dato' Jamaluddin Jarjis.

Another exquisitely beautiful piece being displayed. I had requested another beauty from TV3 to pose beside it. See how they complemented each other.

A bit later another great painter by the name of Yusof Gajah came with his wife Puan Zakiah. We adjourned to the cafeteria for some teh tarik. I made the most of the situation to learn a thing or two from the master himself whose single painting could fetch a whopping RM100,000.00. I would be more than happy to receive one hundredth of that for my own painting, let alone RM100K!

Pak Zawi listening attentively from the master himself.

Datin Mamasita took care of Puan Zakiah, the wife of Pak Yusof Gajah. Puan Zakiah was the pillar of strength that supported Yusof Gajah's career as a painter. Read Mamasita's blog to learn more of her contribution to their success where Yusof Gajah had risen from the brink of failure.

The discussion between Dato' Jaff and Yusoff Gajah was so interesting that I had to bring myself closer to know what it was all about.

Dato' Arif Sabri of the popular Sopo blog Sakmongkol AK47 is Datin Mamasita's other half. Here he was seen holding court while Dato' Jaffar, Yussof Gajah and yours truly listened with interest. Dato' Sak as we affectionately called him was the man behind the exhibition as he was keen to help budding Pahang Artists to succeed.

My son Azrin who had been acting as my photographer had a shot of himself with such luminaries as Dato' Jaff, Dato' Sak and Yusof Gajah. Thanks to him because without him I would hardly have any pictures of myself.

At 5 PM we gathered at the entrance to the TV3 lobby to wait for the Bigspender in the form of the Malaysian Ambassador to the United States of America YB. Dato' Jamaluddin Jarjis who happened to be a close friend of Dato' Sak. They had grown up together in Pekan. It was at the invitation of Dato' Sak that Dato' JJ came to the show. Such is the influence of Dato' Sak, the man with the AK47.

Dato' JJ shaking the hand of Osman Limat, the painter of Melombong

Datin Mamasita doing her level best to get Dato' JJ to buy as many paintings as possible. She must have suggested that Dato' JJ buy the most expensive one as a gift for President Obama himself.

Azrin's hand must have trembled so much having to photograph the Malaysian Ambassador with the guests that the camera shook. He was so awed by the moment that a few other guests and even his dad were left out of frame.

Before leaving for another function at Sri Pentas, Dato' JJ mentioned about the possibility of holding a similar exhibition in the US! Wow, that will be great. That gave Datin Mamasita the idea of holding a similar exhibition for The East Coast Artists ( Pahang, Terenganu and Kelantan) in London at Malaysia Hall. Please pray for us all that it will materialize one day. We will need sponsorship from Malaysian Tourisms and other governement agencies of course.

Before I left the premise of Sri Pentas, Mat Noor, the host of Jejak Rasul passed by and I asked for a photo with him which he and his friend obliged. My wife Fatthiyah is also an avid follower of the Jejak Rasul series. Mat Nor is the host of Jejak Rasul.I left Sri Pentas with a contented heart as on that day I had met so many fine artists from Pahang and learnt so much from Yusof Gajah, another world reknowned artist from Pahang.The next blog will be about another visit to a private Gallery of En. Hilmi Yusoff, the son of the famous artist from Kelantan, the late Yusoff Abdullah. I had the opportunity of a lifetime to be allowed to visit the private gallery which I did on the previous Saturday in Shah Alam, courtesy of another blogger friend Wan Asmadi aka Sangkelate who is a cousin of Hilmi.

33 comments:

Salam Pak Zawi. What a wonderful day you had. I wanted so much to be there; unfortunately I was down with my usual curse of heat-induced migraine after attending a client's meeting in Kelana Jaya that afternoon. I was hoping to see the rambutan paintings again.. for obvious reasons (plse plse jangan ada orang dah beli)..besar kemungkinan I will be there esok (today too busy, malam ada function)..

Can we meet before you go home? My project team ppl want to sit down with you to discuss things..

Kama,Call Datin Mamasita immediately to ensure that the rambutan isn't in the crate heading for USA. Dato' JJ bought 8 pieces to be taken back to USA. If it was one of the piece among the 8, she must help to replace it with another one.Sure we can meet sometimes on Thursday before evening before we I move to Labu for the flight home on Friday. I don't know if I am in authority to talk on behalf of PESENI though but we can always try and I can go back and discuss with Deen and the rest.

Yohoo Pak..thank you so much for joining us at the exhibition! Thank you to your 'adik Azrin' too!

I am so very glad Yusof Gajah and his wife, Dato' Jaf, Dato' sak and JJ the US ambassador were among those present to make your day at Sri Pentas so super memorable!

For your info, JJ is still the kampong boy at heart. Jadi kalau orang sekampung ajak, he will always oblige and make time to come..no matter how tinggi his jawatan is, he'll always come running to see old friends.Same old JJ dari dulu2 sampai sekarang..takpernah menyombong walaupun Dato' sak kuat menyakat dia!hehehe

Datin,Thanks to you I get to attend the show at the right time. Meeting all those people especially Pak Yusof Gajah, Pak Man, Cikgu and your brother meant so much to me. It will sow the seed of friendship.Lucky thing you people have such a great friend Dato' JJ who could afford to buy paintings just like shopping for grocery, he really saved the day for you as the organizer.If he had selected the rambutan, I would like you to switch it with another piece so that Kama can have the rambutan. Otherwise Pak Abu will have a hard time consoling his Puteri for failing to buy the rambutan after she had been drooling over it for so long. Rambutan will now accompany Deen's mangosteen on Kama's wall.

Uncle,4 or 5 years ago Pak Yusof Gajah's painting was still affordable. Buy them back from Renaisance if they are willing to part with them. They are worth a fortune now. Anyway I dougt that they will part with them unless they are making a huge profit from the sale. Their management are no fools.Nowadays minnows like me can only afford to buy small prints from Yusof Gajah which he is producing now. I learnt a lot from him by the few hours I was with him.

Slm Pak Zawi,It's good to see you again and what more at the special exhibition organized by Mamasita. You have captured the day at TV3 superbly, moments by moments until the climax when Dato' JJ arrived and made the big purchased. The most significant moment was when Dato'JJ proposed the exhibition to be brought to US. Very proud of him for his moral support to the Pahang Artists and also going beyond that by buying the paintings and making plan to bring the exhibition to US. Penat lelah Datin Mamasita dan Pelukis Pahang nampaknya berbaloi dan menghasikan perkembangan yang hebat.

I am sure your effort with PESENI and Putri Kama to organize Exhibition in KL will be blessed with success too.

Personally I am very happy to meet you and son as well as the crowds yesterday..... Hope to catch up with you before you leave KL.

Dato Jaff,Salam kembali.I feel glad to have met you too. It was so long after the first meeting.I forgot to mention Dato' JJ's offer to bring the exhibition to the US. It will be a great exposure to Pahang artists and should spur them on to create new paintings with quality. Beside that Mamasita is also thinking of doing the same for London. An exhibition at Malaysia Hall by painters from the East Coast which include Kelantan. Mamasita will enlist the assistance of Tourism Malaysia and other government agencies to make it affordable. It is good because the artists from Kelantan doesn't have anybody to turn to. I will redo the blog to include this light at the end of the tunnel.I will be meeting Puteri Kama and her team tomorrow to discuss the PESENI exhibition at Midvalley tomorrow morning.Hopefully I can drop in at your place on my way to Labu for the return trip home.

Salam Pak zawi,Pity I was a bit busy yesterday, otherwise would have been there. I really would like to meet you after reading your blog and having all my wonderful blogger friends raving about you.Soon, insyaallah.

NanaDJ,I would love to meet you too. I will be at Kama's office in Mid Valley tomorrow morning. We could meet there if you can spare the time.Your blogger friends raving about me? Now my mouth is wide open wondering what they are raving about. After all I am just a pelukis pretending to be an accomplished painter hehehehe.

Kama,That will be an exposure of a life time for artists from the east coast. Hopefully Tourism Malaysia won't insist on sending only the famous painters whose work doesn't need any further exposures.Thank you for the thought.

Maria,It is not that I am among the high society but just that I happened to be there hahaha. Anyway he is a close friend of a close friend, so I guess that is it. That still doesn't me that I am his close friend, right?

Rizal (Jalan Rebung),Tunggu my next post. Seorang collector yang mempunyai beberapa lukisan yang berharga lebih dari RM100K.Mine will never reach that kind of astronomical figures. As I said somewhere I don't mind if my paintings can fetch RM1,000 each as becoming expensive means not many people can afford to buy them so less people will get to enjoy them unless they are placed in public galleries.You are right, it is advisable to to buy them while they are still priced low. As it is I will accept any reasonable offer however low. Furthermore I love to draw a special one as requested by my friends especially those that I know.

Oldstock,The two beauties was taken by myself. It was a difficult shot as the light from behind was too strong and when I used the flash to fill in, ligh bounced off the painting rendering it a burnout. So I had to use available light. I did not dare let Azrin take that shot lest he may spoil the two beauties with ugly me in the frame hahahaha.I am glad you like the paintings I did for you. Nowadays I am painting on bigger canvass of the size 24" x 30" for bigger impact at a slightly higher price. Why not order more paintings while they are still affordable?Thank you for your faith in my paintings.

Hi Pak Zawi, love the beautiful paintings especially that Melombong one. Beautiful.I'm sure one day soon your paintings will be there too, if not sooner.Nice pics too of who is who.Love your cap, ha ha.Have a great week, Lee.

Lee,Melombong was the highest pricedpainting at the show and it was bought by the Malaysian Ambassador to USA. I dream to be able to paint that well some day.The cap was a gift from a fellow blogger Kerp who came to visit me in Shah Alam.Take care bro.

NanaDJ,It wasn't Kama's office actually. It was the event management's office and I had a good lesson on what is there and how to find my way around at Midvalley Megamall. InsyaAllah, we will have a chance to meet on another occassion.

Ee Lynn,Salam kembali. As a lawyer you seem to know more about art than meets the eye. I am awed to know that you know Pak Yusof's work more than me. I managed to glean plenty of good advice from the great painter. Humilty is his way of life.